Couple work to give Alki Statue of Liberty a higher, safer stand

Residents near Alki Beach hope to give Liberty the new plaza and pedestal shown in this rendering.

Residents near Alki Beach hope to give Liberty the new plaza and pedestal shown in this rendering.

Photo: Cast Architecture And EWorkshop Design

Photo: Cast Architecture And EWorkshop Design

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Residents near Alki Beach hope to give Liberty the new plaza and pedestal shown in this rendering.

Residents near Alki Beach hope to give Liberty the new plaza and pedestal shown in this rendering.

Photo: Cast Architecture And EWorkshop Design

Couple work to give Alki Statue of Liberty a higher, safer stand

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For some, the Statue of Liberty at Alki has been just a quirky little West Seattle landmark.

For others, like Paul and Libby Carr, it marks the place they first met.

For Merle Judd, it marks the milestones of her life. The 7-foot-tall statue was put up by the Boy Scouts in 1952, the same year her parents moved to West Seattle.

And for the neighborhood, it's a gathering spot, where on 9/11 people instinctively knew to go to leave flowers and grieve for the victims.

So the Carrs and others in the neighborhood have been raising money to build the statue a new plaza and a taller pedestal that they hope will protect it from vandals.

For all that the statue has meant, it's been damaged several times. It was knocked off its base in 1975. On April Fools' Day in 1996, someone ripped off an arm -- the one carrying the torch.

Then in 2005, someone climbed the statue and ripped off the seven rays radiating from her crown. After that incident, a different community group, the Northwest Programs for the Arts, raised money to recast the copper statue in bronze. In September, it was returned to the beach.

But although Seattle Parks and Recreation was content to just put it back, others wanted more.

The newly designed 4 1/2- foot-tall pedestal is only about a foot taller. But the planter around it -- which was used as a step to climb the statue -- is being removed. "The planter was a design flaw," said Paul Carr.

"I can't guarantee the statue won't be vandalized," he said, "but the new pedestal is going to be very hard to climb. It should stop the casual stuff."

Around it, architects working pro bono designed a plaza with inscribed bricks that were sold to raise money for the renovation.

The Northwest Programs for the Arts also raised money to recast the statue by selling bricks, but the city had no plan to use them, Libby Carr said. Plans for the new plaza include the bricks from both the statue and plaza fundraising efforts.

Thus far, a community group the Carrs founded, the Seattle Statue of Liberty Plaza Project, has raised $116,000, including a $50,000 grant from the city of Seattle. However, the city has set a Jan. 15 deadline for raising money. The organization needs about $150,000 total or it will have to scale back the project.

"It's been very important and personal to us," Libby Carr, 59, said Sunday.

She and Paul Carr met at a picnic by the statue 15 years ago. They became friends, until one day Libby, who sold insurance, called Paul, who sold real estate, for business advice. They decided to meet for lunch.

"I didn't get any insurance, but I finagled myself a date," said Paul Carr, 65.

For Judd, 78, the statue has been the backdrop for most of her life. Her father was a longshoreman who bought the family's home by the statue because he liked watching the container ships sailing into port.

"It was always pleasant (by the statue). People sat at the benches and the picnic table," Judd said. "Everybody was so disappointed every time it got damaged."

Judd, who has contributed to the plaza project, lives in Monroe now with her daughter and son-in-law. She misses West Seattle.